JAVS Fall 2006

out small muscle movement and learn when to u e it and when to let the fingers respond ro rhe arm. To develop all staccaro ~macks and especially the marrcle, one must be able to produce a good bite. tudying co lic also helps ro devel op good core- ound contact in legato playing and to gain under standing of rhe balance of all parts of the bow. Even in thrown trokes such as used in the spicca to excerpt from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, ir is usefu l to practice each passage as co lle. Then when one goes back and plays rhc passage with a rrue spiccaro, more clarity and round - ness results in rhe sound . fn conclusion, rhc co lle is one of rhe most helpfu l techn iques we have in ou r reachi ng arsenal. Viola , due ro its slower rcs pon e because of its acoustical imperfec tions as well as thicker rrings, needs help in clarity and projec tion. In order to make a beautifu l sound , relaxation rends ro be per haps overvalued, resul ting in quire wonderfu l players who sound roo mushy in a ha ll . A thorough inves tiga tion of colle serves ro develop the dynamic cl arity, as well as rhe voluptuous sound rhar all performers are seeking. £ - Karen Ritscher is Associate Professor ofVioLa at the Oberlin Conservatory a11d artistjn.culty at the Heifetz InternationaLMusic Institute in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. 'he is active as a chamber mwician and performs and records regularly with the Azure Ensemble.

with rhe arm, unril rhe bow escapes the str ing, resulting in a ingle "burp." 4. Try rhe ca rch or "burp" on all stri ngs in all parts of the bow. This can be practiced wirh a part ncr, keeping score. Tf one produces multiple "bu rps," rhe player must take a point. The player with rhc most points lose the round . In reaching the colic, ometimes problems may come up. One always needs ro make sure rhat the thumb stays relaxed, even in the elongated shape and that it never pushes the bow our and in but rather fo llows rhe fingers in the down and up bow di rection. Also, if rhe arm is nm naru rally pronated, with the radius bone leaning on the ulna, a good ring on the bite cannot

3. Then only pretend you will play a cloned rhythm, but instead let the how spring down-how with a "pop." 4. Do the same on the up-bow. A an aside- when 1was a student ol Karen Turtle's, I asked her gen erally about articulati ng; she answered, "there is no such thing as articulation, on ly the breath." However, like Primrose and other violists, she did emphasize having a reactive spring in the base join t knuckles. Another exercise char we have found useful for developing clarity and ring is the following exercise that we call the "burp" exercise: I . Engage bow on string. 2. Let the finger catch the stri ng, sensitive to rhe vertical resistance. 3. Then exert horizontal pres ure

occur. If the pinky tends ro slip off, a good suggestion is to rest rhe pinky on the ridge clos e t to the player, not directl y on top of the bow. Working on co lic in the viola studio is benefi cial for generally waking up and ensitizing the fingers and provides a qui ck right hand warm up. Ir helps the student develop awareness fo r the different res ponse times of each suing. It teaches rhe brain to feel

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J_ RNAL OF T H E AM ERJ AN V I LAS C l ETY 40